Hand-truck



(No Model.)

J. HARPS.

HAND TRUCK.

N0. 427,232. Patented May 6, 1890.

VVz'fnesses [nVEz'zZbr 7 WM UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcs.

JACOB I-IARPS, OF SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA.

HAN D-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,232, dated May 6,1890. Application filed October 12, 1889. Serial No. 326,862. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB HARPS, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Fernando, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Automatic Hand-Truck, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to secure greater ease and convenience inhandling boxes and packages with hand-trucks. When boxes are piled oneupon another and when they are placed side by side close to each other,it is quite diflicult to handle them.

My invention is designed to enable the operator unaided to pick up anybox exposed and remove it from its position and transport it and placeit where desired without handling it with the hands and without movingthe boxes standing beside it.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my im-- proved truck in positionto load a pile of boxes.

w m, Fig. 2, indicate the line of section. Fig. 2 is a crosssection ofthe truck, 1 y, Fig. 1, indicating the line of section. The grapple isshown in this view as it would appear if slipped down below the line ofsection y y. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the hand-grapple. Fig. 4 isa mid-section detail of the spring which operates the ratchet-bar I.Fig. 5 is a view of an auxiliary ledge-frame adapted for attachment tothe truck when it is desired to handle sacks.

The top or front face of the front or loading end of the truck isplain-that is to say, the truck is devoid of the ledge usually providedto project forward from the front loading end of hand-trucks to receiveand support the packages. The loading end of this truck is beveled onthe under side to a wedgepoint, as at B, and the wheels C are set withtheir peripheries wholly to the rear of such point, so that when thehandles A are raised to a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1,'thewheels will be raised clear of the ground and the truck will rest uponthe wedge-points B of the handles, which form a fulcrum for the supportof the truck while loading. The wheels are set well back from thefulcrumpoints 13, so thatthe handles must be thrown back at an angle ofabout forty-five degrees before thewheel Cwill touch the ground andbegin to support the load. By this contrivance above described I amenabled to easily place the face of the truck against the face of thebox or package to be loaded, so that when the package is grappled andsecured to the truck the rearward movement of the handles will cause thebox or package to tilt back easily until the wheels strike the ground,at which time the box or package will have been overbalanced, so as torest upon the handles. The wheels will then form the fulcrum, and afurther backward movement will raise the package from the ground. riousdevices may be employed to grapple the package and secure it to thetruck.

The means I deem most preferable are illustrated in the drawings.

1 fulcrum a bent leverD to the frame of the truck by means of rod E,passing through the handles from side to side. The two front ends of thelever are pointed and conveyed upward and are adapted to be projectedforward and upward in front of the face of the truck by the depressionsof the rear portion of such lever, which is provided with a foot-pieceG. A spring H engages with each arm of the lever to hold the rearthereof in its elevated position when free, and a ratchet-bar I isprovided to engage with the lever behind the spring H to hold the leverin its depressed position, as shown in Fig. 1. The ratchet-bar Ipreferably engages with the foot-plate G, so that it can readily bereleased by the toe of the foot which depresses the lever. The bar ishinged to the central beam J of the frame of the truck and is held byaspring K in an extended position to engage with the footpiece G.

The central beam J of the truck-frame is faced with an iron strap L, theedges of which It is obvious vaof the guideway the end walls of thechannels m m will engage the guide L on opposite sides, thereby clutchinthe same. The clutch illustrated in Fig. 3 is specially adapted for thispurpose, though it is obvious other clutches may be devised to operatein combination with the truck-fram e, as hereinbefore claw and ispivoted at the other end to the slide M. A portion Q of the upper faceof the claw is notched for engagement with the pawl R, which is pivotedto the handle 0 above the claw N. A spring-actuated trip-rod S issecured to the handle-lever O to engage with the top of pawl R behindits pivot, so that when the rod is depressed it will raise the pawl andallow the claw to be raised.

The auxiliary ledge-frame shown in Fig. 6 consists of a ledge T, havingan attachingarmU secured to each end on the upper side thereof. Curvedlugs V V project backward and downward from each of these arms to entersockets TV in the front side of the handles. These sockets are indicatedby dotted lines, Fig. 1. Perforated lugs b are provided to receive pinsor screws,which maybe passed therethrough into the handles to secure theframe to the handles.

The operation of the truck is as follows: The operator grasps thehandlesAin the ordinary manner and wheels the truck forward until theend B touches the package. The handles are then elevated, keeping thepoints 13 close against the package until the points rest upon .thefloor and the wheels are raised wholly from the floor. Then the operatorgrasps handle 0, and, placing his foot upon the footplate G,simultaneously draws the handle back and forces the end of the lever Ddown.

The points X are forced forward and upward into the rear side of thepackage, and at the same time the claw N of the hand-clutch is forceddownward and backward into the top of the package. The operation of theseveral parts of the clutch is such as to give a positive downward andbackward movement to the claw whenever the handle 0 is drawn back*thatis to say, the backward movement of the upper end of lever O elevatesand also retracts pivot Y of the claw. The rigid arm P preventspivot-point Z from being drawn backward, except with a downward movementon the arc of a circle. Thus the rear end of N-is given an upward andbackward movement, while the front end is given a downward and backwardmovement very effective in clutching the package and clamping it to thetruck. The pawl R engages with the serrated face Q and prevents the clawfrom being raised or its end bounced out of the package. The strain uponthe slide M is such as to cause it to cramp the guide-strap L, so as tomake the clutch stationarythat is to say, when handle 0 is drawn backits lower pivot d forces the bottom of slide M backward against theguide-strap L, and at the same time the claw Nis drawn back by pivot Y,thus forcing tie P back, thereby forcing back the upper end of the slideM, to which such tie is pivoted. This simultaneous forward movement ofthe lower end of M and backward movement of the upper end of M causes Mto cramp the guidestrap L and thereby be held stationary until the pawlis released. WVhen a box is thus clutched, it is held securely clampedto the truck, and a single box can be effectively handled without theaid of the foot-lever. For example, if the hand-clamp shown in Fig. 1were drawn back and the top box e clutched thereby and the truck werethen tilted back, (the lever D being released,) box 6 would be carriedoff bythe truck and would remain suspended until the clutch werereleased. hen the lever D and the clutch are operated simultaneously,they act against each other and thereby grip the package or pile ofpackages firmly between them. It is obvious the hand-clutch need not bemovable in order to give it utility, and the frame-piece M might beapart, the frame of the truck being fixed at a certain height if it isproposed to handle packages of a uniform height.

Now, having described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

p 1. The combination of a hand-truck devoid of any loading-ledge, thepivoted foot-lever having its front end pointed and curved upward, andmeans for engaging the top of the package.

2. The combination, with a hand-truck devoid of the ordinaryloading-ledge-and provided with a longitudinal guide for a clutchingdevice, of a slide adapted to engage with such guide, the handle-leverpivoted at one end to one end of such slide, the pawl pivoted to thehandle, the bent claw pivoted at one end to the handle and having itsupper face notched for engagement with the pawl, and the tie pivoted byone end to the claw and pivoted at the other end to the slide.

3. The combination of the guideway L, the slide M, having channels m m,handle 0, pivoted to the lower end of the guide, the pawl pivoted to thehandle, the bent claw N, pivoted at one end to the handle and notched onits upper face to engage with the pawl, the tie pivoted at one end tothe claw and pivoted at the other end to the slide, and the rod S.

4. The combination, with a hand-truck such as set forth, of theremovable ledge-frame comprising ledge T, attaching-arms U U, and meansfor securing the ledge to the truck.

5. The combination of the hand-truck provided with means for engagingthe top of the package to be handled, the pivoted springactuatedfoot-lever having upward curved ICC IIO

7. The combination of a frame, a handle 10 pivoted thereto, the bentclaw pivoted to such handle, the tie pivot-ed to the bent lever and tothe frame, and the pawl pivoted to the handle to engage with the claw.

JACOB HARPS.

Witnesses:

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, W. H. MASSER.

